The Panthers entered their Week 10 contest in San Francisco looking for validation and took the opportunity to make their mark. Their Monday Night win over New England the following week effectively erased any doubts that the team’s winning ways were more than the result of a soft schedule and set them firmly in the group of contenders at the top of the league. Standing out in a look ahead at their final stretch are the two head-to-heads with the Saints – the team they now trail by a single game in the NFC South – but the first of those doesn’t arrive for two weeks. In the meantime, this trip to Miami is their first task and the combination of recent hurdles cleared and an eye on the future could position this as an emotional valley game.

The Dolphins, too, could be less than zeroed in. At 5-5 and on the edge of the playoff race, Miami trails New England by two games in the East and four of their last five are games in the division and look like must-have’s. Their recent off-field issues factored in, it may not be as easy as it otherwise would be to fully focus on the Carolina team coming to town, but with the Panthers getting so much attention lately, the focus factor probably falls in the ‘Phins favor.